Schools to â€˜resumeâ€™ second semester on Jan 24: Al-Essa â€“ Some teachers, Arab students reject laptops

January 21, 2016, 8:23 am

A total of 653,624 students in public and private schools, as well as 63,844 teachers, are now ready for the second semester of academic year 2015/2016, said Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Bader Al-Essa. According to Al-Essa, classes for the second semester will resume on Jan 24; while the teachers and administrative staff in public and private academic institutions (Arabic schools), religious institutes, special education and adult education will start reporting for work on Thursday.

Al-Essa confirmed the ministry is fully prepared for the second semester, indicating the concerned units in the Public Education Sector have finalized procedures for the handover of the students’ laptops.

He said the curricula for the entire semester have been uploaded in the laptops which will be distributed to the students at the opening of classes. He disclosed a few teachers and Arab students have rejected the laptops due to the condition that the parents or guardians will pay for the laptop in case of loss or damage. Meanwhile, top officials at the Ministry of Education have rejected a number of items in the proposed manual for the primary stage, which was forwarded to the educational districts for further study, reports Al-Anba daily quoting sources. Sources disclosed the proposal was discussed in the meeting presided recently by Education Minister Dr Bader Al-Essa, in the presence of Undersecretary Dr Haitham Al-Athari and other officials.